As the school year nears its end, seniors will soon make a decision on what exactly they want to do after graduation. Students may feel pressured to go immediately to college or to decide what exactly they want to do right away. They may consider taking a year off to figure everything out instead of immediately immersing themselves into one decision. 

Two seniors who plan to participate in gap years are Caleb Garmer and Elias Quinn. Garmer plans on saving money during his time. 

¨I want to get a good start on working towards a stable future since I didn’t really put in the work during school like I should have,¨ Garmer said. 

He also has two different options on how he can earn money during this year.

¨I’m going to save money working full or part time and running an online reselling business,¨ Garmer said.

 Although, he added that he has uncertainties about his future and his gap year. 

¨I don’t want to plan too far ahead because I change my mind so much,¨ he said. 

Garmer believes that Lindbergh puts most of its emphasis on preparing students for college education and does not often portray other options, such as gap years or beginning a career after high school.

¨[Lindbergh] really emphasizes the road to college and acts like other paths don’t exist so much. We do have South Tech, so I don’t know if it’s Lindbergh’s job anyway,¨ Garmer said. 

While Garmer plans to use his gap year to save up money, Quinn’s position is that he can figure everything out with his time in this extra year.

¨I have to get my plans together after this year, and I’m planning on joining the military after my gap year,¨ Quinn said. 

To help him do this, Quinn will live with his father in California during his gap year, to help get him prepared for the military and beyond. He believes that Lindbergh has done enough to help prepare him for the future, but that the school’s decisions during the COVID-19 pandemic made these preparations more difficult.

¨Really the only thing that would’ve helped is not going online so I could understand what was happening,¨ Quinn said.